GoKawiilUnsealed filings show Microsoft, OpenAI executives privately called AI training 'theft'
Newly unredacted court documents in The New York Times' copyright suit against OpenAI and Microsoft reveal that a senior Microsoft executive privately labeled the companies' AI training practices as theft, while OpenAI leaders reportedly acknowledged their models posed an existential threat to publishers. The filings also allege the companies bypassed paywalls, scraped content en masse, and removed copyright notices to build training datasets.
GoKawiil's interpretation of the reporting above, not reported fact.
These internal admissions could undercut the AI industry's 'fair use' defense, which depends partly on showing that AI training doesn't harm the market for original works—yet Microsoft's own data reportedly shows Copilot slashed click-through traffic to the Times by up to 93%. With courts and the Trump administration largely siding with AI firms so far, such evidence could reshape how judges weigh harm to publishers in ongoing and future copyright litigation.
- A Microsoft executive privately called AI training practices 'theft,' according to unsealed filings.
- OpenAI leadership allegedly acknowledged its models pose an 'existential threat' to publishers and journalists.
- Microsoft's Copilot reportedly cut click-through traffic to NYT's site by up to 93%, challenging the 'fair use' defense.
Source: techcrunch.com — Rebecca Bellan, 2026-09-17
Published there as: “Microsoft exec called AI scraping ‘the largest theft of labor in human history,’ new unredacted filings reveal”
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